Ranked #5 in popularity, communication & media studies is one of the most sought-after bachelor's degree programs in the nation. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 66 schools in the Far Western US Region to determine which ones were the best for communication & media studies students pursuing a bachelor's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 8,302 bachelor's degrees in communication & media studies to qualified students.
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Choosing a Great Communication & Media Studies School for Your Bachelor's Degree
Your choice of communication & media studies for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
Quality Overall Is Important
The overall quality of a bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we consider a school's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a host of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Average Earnings
To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their bachelor's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their bachelor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.
Other Factors We Consider
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
Major Focus - How much a school focuses on communication & media studies students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - How many other communication & media studies students want to attend this school to pursue a bachelor's degree.
Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
Student Debt - How much debt communication & media studies students go into to obtain their bachelor's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized communication & media studies related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for communication & media studies students working on their bachelor's degree.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Communication & Media Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.
In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you.
When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.
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ADBLOCK #171
Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Communication & Media Studies in the Far Western US Region
Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for communication & media studies students seeking a a bachelor's degree. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
13 Top Far Western US Region Schools for a Bachelor's in Communications
Every student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in communication & media studies has to take a look at University of Southern California. Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.
Communication & Media Studies bachelor's degree recipients from University of Southern California earn a boost of about $9,992 over the average earnings of communication & media studies graduates.
University of California - Santa Barbara is a good option for individuals pursuing a bachelor's degree in communication & media studies. UCSB is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized suburb of Santa Barbara.
Those communication & media studies students who get their bachelor's degree from University of California - Santa Barbara receive $8,939 more than the typical communications student.
University of California - Davis is a wonderful choice for individuals interested in a bachelor's degree in communication & media studies. UC Davis is a very large public university located in the suburb of Davis.
Communication & Media Studies bachelor's degree recipients from University of California - Davis earn a boost of around $4,910 above the average earnings of communication & media studies majors.
University of Washington - Seattle Campus is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in communication & media studies. UW Seattle is a very large public university located in the city of Seattle.
Those communication & media studies students who get their bachelor's degree from University of Washington - Seattle Campus earn $6,979 more than the average communications grad.
Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Those communication & media studies students who get their bachelor's degree from University of California - Berkeley make $6,037 more than the standard communications grad.
SCU is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Santa Clara.
Bachelor's recipients from the communication & media studies degree program at Santa Clara University get $14,061 above the standard graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
Located in the large city of San Francisco, SFSU is a public university with a very large student population.
Communication & Media Studies bachelor's degree recipients from San Francisco State University receive an earnings boost of approximately $3,131 above the average income of communication & media studies graduates.
Located in the city of Orange, Chapman is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.
Bachelor's recipients from the communication & media studies degree program at Chapman University earn $6,942 more than the typical graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
Located in the city of Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.
Bachelor's recipients from the communication & media studies degree program at Loyola Marymount University make $3,454 above the average graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
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Honorable Mentions
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Communication & Media Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region award.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
Your choice of communication & media studies for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
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